The San Francisco 49ers are adding to their defensive coaching staff. Sporting News NFL columnist Alex Marvez reported Wednesday evening that New York Giants assistant defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina is leaving to join the 49ers as defensive line coach.
Zgonina played on the defensive line for seven teams over 17 seasons. He was a seventh round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and turned that into 448 tackles, 26.0 sacks, and 13 fumbles recovered, as well as a Super Bowl ring with the St. Louis Rams in 1999.
Zgonina retired after the 2009 season. He got into coaching in 2013, spending three seasons as the Houston Texans assistant defensive line coach. He then spent the past season with the New York Giants in the same role. I am not entirely sure what the connection is with Kyle Shanahan.
I was wondering what Zgonina was up to after retiring before getting into coaching, and I learned the most important thing we need to know about him. He participated in dog shows with his Neapolitan mastiff, Nook! Here’s some video: